New York Times: Israel = Iran

Daniel Halper

The New York Times’ recently installed Jerusalem bureau chief is once again drawing fire on Twitter for likening Israel to Iran. When approached by the Free Beacon, she defended the comparison.

“What do Israel and Iran have in common? Jailing journalists, according to [the Columbia Journalism Review],” Rudoren tweeted yesterday.

The report Rudoren cited "drew widespread criticism for employing statistical sleight of hand in order to paint a portrait of Israel that does not comport with the facts," Kredo adds.

The New York Times journalist stood her ground at first. "Was trying to make a lite point off a tidbit. It’s Twitter, not a dissertation. Others’ analyses also intrstng," she said on Twitter. And then she backtracked, finally apologizing.

When confronted by Kredo, Rudoren played down the importance of remarks she makes on Twitter:

Asked to comment on the controversy earlier today, Rudoren scoffed at her Twitter critics and defended her credibility on the issue of Israel.

“It was a quick tweet of a tidbit,” Rudoren, who ignited a firestorm earlier this year when she used Twitter to reach out to some of Israel’s fiercest critics, explained in an email.

“I wasn’t saying there was equivalency, just noting they were side by side in his list, which, again, in this moment, seemed worthy of a quick mention,” Rudoren said. “That’s how I see Twitter—a medium for a quick note—hey, look at this—as opposed to an in-depth exploration.”

She maintained that it is perfectly acceptable to make note of the report, even if it was flawed.

“To suggest that noting the existence of a CJR study, even if flawed, is anti-Semiticseems entirely out of proportion. Anti-Semitism is about intent, right? So the suggestion is that I put the tweet out to hurt/destroy Jews? Seriously? A tweet? It’s a platform for conversation, for sharing information—and, sure, for debunking or critiquing that information,” Rudoren wrote.